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Brian is a senior editor with ChicagoSide. Previously, he was a sports reporter in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, covering professional hockey and high school football. He is a graduate of the University of Missouri.

Why Won’t Rip Hamilton Admit He Plays For The Bulls?

Last week, Chicago Bulls GM Gar Forman moved to quash rumors the team was about to put shooting guard Richard Hamilton on the trading block.

Funny, we didn’t know he had the authority to move a Detroit Piston.

After all, isn’t that what Hamilton still is?

Though evidence confirms that Rip’s been in Chicago for just over a year, you’ll have to forgive us for thinking he never really left the Motor City. At least not in his own mind. Consider the following:

Rip’s Twitter account

An “NBA player for the Detroit Pistons”? At least he’s got his current city correct, but he couldn’t have edited his current team? And he’s a perfectly active tweeter, so apathy isn’t an alibi.

Compare this to the Twitter profile of the recently signed Daequan Cook, who greeted his Chicago arrival with—count ‘em—four exclamation points and a logo.

Welcome to Chicago, Daequan. Maybe show Rip how to edit his profile after shootaround tomorrow?

Rip’s Facebook page

True, Rip is less active on Facebook than Twitter, but some of those 18,000 fans gotta be Chicagoans, longing for acknowledgement. Where’s the love?

Rip’s personal website

To be sure, Hamilton’s legacy as a professional basketball player will always be most identified with his nine seasons in Detroit, where he won the 2004 NBA Championship and was thrice named an All-Star. Heck, he’s still on the Pistons’ cap for $5.5 million this season after they bought out his contract in December 2011; he’s costing Chicago just $5 million. That said, if you’re going to play for the Bulls—for however much longer that is—can you at least update your Myspace page accordingly?

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